Bush's Social Security Sleight of Hand

[derby378]

RED ALERT!!

Last year, even though Bush talked endlessly about the supposed joys of private accounts, he never proposed a specific plan to Congress and never put privatization costs in the budget. But this year, with no fanfare whatsoever, Bush stuck a big Social Security privatization plan in the federal budget proposal, which he sent to Congress on Monday...

But anyone who thought that Bush would wait for bipartisanship to deal with Social Security was wrong. Instead, he stuck his own privatization proposals into his proposed budget.

"The Democrats were laughing all the way to the funeral of Social Security modernization," White House spokesman Trent Duffy told me in an interview Tuesday, but "the president still cares deeply about this. " Duffy asserted that Bush would have been remiss not to include in the budget the cost of something that he feels so strongly about, and he seemed surprised at my surprise that Social Security privatization had been written into the budget without any advance fanfare.

Duffy said privatization costs were included in the midyear budget update that the Office of Management and Budget released last July 30, so it was logical for them to be in the 2007 budget proposals. But I sure didn't see this coming -- and I wonder how many people outside of the White House did.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/07/AR2006020701865.html?referrer=emailarticle

[rodeodance]

1. another DU link to this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2446365

[rodeodance]

2. and another longer DU thread about this topic here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x359485

[yellowdogmi]

3. Way to stay on top of things Rodeo. You beat me to it. eom